EURACTE INNOV III

Project Information

EURACTE INNOV III

Grant agreement ID: 831260

DOI

10.3030/831260

Project closed

EC signature date 1 March 2019

Start date 1 January 2019

End date 31 December 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 49 695,66

EU contribution

€ 44 986,25

Coordinated by

CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE ET D INDUSTRIEDE REGION HAUTS-DE-FRANCE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EURACTE INNOV III (EURACTE INNOV III)

Reporting period: 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project EURACTE INNOV III proposed by the consortium Enterprise Europe Network EURACTE aimed at the establishment, promotion and implementation of two support services aiming at enhancing the innovation management capacity and projects of SMEs based in Hauts-de-France region, thus generating growth and competitiveness among local actors :

- The first service targets successful applicants under the European Innovation Council scheme, i.e. EIC Accelerator, FTI and FET beneficiaries. The aim of this service is to detect weaknesses in the projects, help the SMEs to identify a coach who is competent in the particular field in order to efficiently accompany the SME in finding solutions to the identified challenges, and follow up and facilitate the SME – coach relationship in order to maximise the probability of the project to access the targeted market successfully.

- The second support service, “Enhancing SME innovation management capacity” aims at helping regional SMEs with potential for international growth to consolidate their innovation strategy and management, in order to generate more structured innovation projects and increase their chances of success on the European market. The overall objective is to allow the SMEs to reach the required capacities to access to funding under Horizon 2020 program.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Regarding the KAM service, 2 support packs have been deployed over an objective of 3 planned in the work program. The beneficiaries are start-ups working in the field of energy and environment, key topics for Hauts-de-France region involved in green economy transition with REV3.

Regarding the EIMC service, the consortium has supported 11 companies during the contractual period. The clients, working in a wide variety of sectors (Circular Economy, Internet Services/software as a service, Household Equipment Manufacturing, Industrial Manufacturing, Software development, Fabrics Manufacturing) have benefited from that service which allowed them to better structure their innovation process, to better transform their innovation projects into commercial success and to increase their competitiveness.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The beneficiaries of the KAM services took full advantage of an adapted coaching service enabling these companies to optimize the chances of success of their project by consolidating them, notably on the commercial strategy. As the support began in 2019, we do not have enough data to assess precisely impact in terms of job creation.

The beneficiaries from the EIMC service were able to identify areas for improvement in their innovation culture and process, to identify areas for progress to innovate more effectively, to adapt and differentiate themselves from competitors and to ensure the sustainability of their activity.

The implementation of the KAM & EIMC services was carried out in close cooperation with the EEN consortium EURACTE business advisers for the identification of the target SMEs and for providing complementary support services to the companies benefiting from the services (IPR, search for partners, regulatory support, etc.). The EURACTE consortium reinforced efforts to provide high added-value expertise and tailor-made information to regional companies about EIC scheme, namely EIC Accelerator calls, in order to increase the number of regional applicants and beneficiaries.